particracyfandomcom-20200215-history
Janice LeCoultre
Overview Janice LeCoultre was a Dranian politician formerly serving as Chairwoman of the right-wing Grand National Party and Prime Minister of Dranland.. Previously, she had also been Governor of Ulbrach Province and Minister of Finance. Life and Politics LeCoultre was, by profession, a journalist, and covered economic issues during her time at the Santa Sharika Evening Standard, a right-leaning newspaper published in her hometown. She first got involved in politics when she was elected Governor of Ulbrach in 3358 at the age of 23, however she would lose against her Unity challenger in 3366. In that year, her sister, Marina LeCoultre, became Prime Minister of Dranland and encouraged her to give it another try. In 3374, she won the position of Governor back and continued to serve in that office until 3378, when she became Finance Minister in the administration of John Morrison (Popular Party), where she embraced fiscal conservatism. After the coalition's dissolving in 3381, she returned to her work as a journalist until 3389, when a sudden overnight coup ended Prime Minister Delia Breckinridge's tenure as GNP Chairwoman. The GNP leadership council, which LeCoultre was a member of, then called for leadership elections held among all federal GNP MPs and the councillors themselves, in which she prevailed with 61% of the vote in the light of the alleged attempt of the Prime Minister to allow Provinces to ban abortion. However, shortly after she had assumed her Chairwoman position, the GNP suffered a blow as Santa Sharika Mayor Elaine Duvalle protested against the inner-party coup and defected from the GNP, founding the socially conservative CNP, which was criticized by LeCoultre. LeCoultre then gradually shifted the GNP towards social liberalism while retaining the party's traditionally conservative stance on fiscal issues and its libertarian economic positions. On issues such as gay marriage, abortion and the freedom to withdraw from a marriage, she explicitly criticized CNP proposals to ban or restrict their legality. Therefore, her popularity among liberals and libertarians in the GNP grew likewise while she disgruntled traditionalists at many occasions. When leadership elections involving all delegates were called for by GNP Secretary-General Shigeru Asano, LeCoultre launched a bid for a full term, running against Prime Minister Breckinridge who aimed to retake the Chairpersonship to get rid of her 'lame duck' image and radical libertarian candidate and Lieutenant Governor of Magadonia Kenneth Ferguson, who shocked many members by calling for a non-interventionist foreign policy and less defence spending. In the end, LeCoultre won the leadership race in a landslide, winning 59% and coming in far ahead of her two challengers. Nevertheless, her rival Breckinridge held onto her position as Prime Minister, however she stated that she considered a motion of confidence to determine whether she was backed by a majority of the assembly. In early 3392, shortly before the elections, the GNP faction, encouraged by LeCoultre's rhetoric, declined to vote in favor of Breckinridge with a majority when she submitted the motion, forcing the Prime Minister to resign and paving the way for a further boost for the liberal wing of the GNP. However, this did not last long when 20 GNP MPs switched to the CNP following the refusal of LeCoultre and the party leadership to allow a conscience vote on a bill aiming to ban abortion and gay marriage. Nevertheless, the elections were won by the GNP, led by LeCoultre, which gathered 29% of the vote, ahead of PAC, and became strongest party. Simultaneously, John Westwood defeated Valdor Gov. Daniel Leite (PAC) in the presidential race. However, Santa Sharika was nearly collectively lost to the CNP, except for LeCoultre's downtown constituency and John Westwood's own seat, which he would vacate shortly after the elections to become President. LeCoultre's tenure started off with a diplomatic eclat with Solentian Supreme President Tobias Phillips, an ultra-nationalist who had vowed to cancel the privileged partnership with Dranland and even insulted the Dranish as "cowards". LeCoultre's foreign Minister Jasmine Hastings hit back at Phillips with strong words, even publicly calling him a "mind-numbing prole". LeCoultre later was in talks with the Solentian Liberals and other parties to gather support against Phillips' agenda, succeeding two consecutive times in thwarting the Supreme President's plans. Another foreign policy controversy occured during her tenure when the Dranish military allegedly sank a Valruzian vessel, the HMS Chulbark , following which a heated exchange of words between Dranish and Solentian officials ensued. At some points, it even seemed that the two countries would be at the brink of declaring war against each other, however the findings of the so-called Peregrine Commission, a neutral body appointed by the Dranish government aimed at investigating the incident, caused the tensions to ease. LeCoultre herself did, apart from issuing an ultimatum to the Valruzian government urging them to withdraw their blockade of the Dranish sea port where the Chulbark's wreck had allegedly been stored. Rather than outlining the government's stance on the issue, LeCoultre kept in the background and left official statements to President John Westwood and other officials such as Defence Minister Jasmine Hastings. This fact was heavily critiqued by many observers and media. In November of 3396, LeCoultre announced that she would seek re-election both as GNP Chairwoman and as Prime Minister. Apart from the Chulbark incident, the GNP-PP coalition only managed to pass two joint bills which aimed at abolishing subsidies for energy consumption and ending government intervention in the currency exchange rate of the DRA, respectively. In the three leader's debates ahead of the 3397 elections, LeCoultre won the first one clearly, but fared modestly in the second one - due to several rhetorical gaffes which made her look detached an elitistic - and lost the third one, which was on foreign policy and in the light of the HMS Chulbark incident. The elections turned out to be a political earthquake, with the fascist VBSM winning a plurality and the GNP losing ten percent, down to 19%, even behind PAC, meaning a new historic low and the first time that the party didn't come in either first or second. However, LeCoultre seemed belligerent following her defeat, delivering a fiery speech against the VBSM at the GNP election party in Santa Sharika: "My friends, I thank you for your energetic support throughout the campaign and particularly for remaining true to me and the GNP even after this dreadful night. I couldn't satisfy your expectations, and I certainly didn't expect these results. The fascists, the force of true evil, the loathsome oppressors, yes, I would even say the diabolic brutes of the VBSM have prevailed, and there is no sense in denying that. However, I wish to point out that 75% of the Dranish people rejected fascism tonight, and opted for democracy, regardless whether under libertarian, social democratic, liberal or conservatives premises... GNP, PAC, PP, CNP and also PLA are one bloc tonight, the bloc for democracy and human rights, as opposed to the bloc of tyranny, socialism, radical collectivism and insane regressiveness. My congratulations go to President-elect Leite as well, for having defeated the devil that wished to ascend the highest position in our nation. Friends, I don't know what my future will look like after this crushing defeat, but I will fight incessantly to make sure that yours is bright and free from oppression... I urge you, continue to believe in liberty! Never give up! Help us to eradicate the pure evil that derives from the policies of the VBSM!" Despite this belligerent rhetoric, she announced her resignation as GNP Chairwoman only shortly after, and was succeeded by Jasmine Hastings. She did, however, retain her seat in the Parliament until January 1, 3402, when she retired alongside Hastings herself, at the age of 66. After her retirement, she frequently appeared on political TV shows and talkshows, often issuing side swipes at her successor Richard Branstead-Smith, who she considered too conservative on social issues. In 3308, rumors emerged that she would eye the Presidency. At a conference of libertarian pressure group United for Liberty, she stated that: "Yes, I agree that a presidential run may raise awareness for social questions that are under danger of being exploited by regressive forces to push for their authoritarian policies - if liberal, freedom-minded forces appealed to me to chair these efforts, I would not turn it down." After her ambitions were turned down by the likes of Margaret Woodhall and Secretary-General Miyikasu Chouda, she suggested the possibility of a run for another party, namely the PP. Nevertheless, she eventually renounced such an option. When the GNP finally nominated James Tanaka as presidential candidate, LeCoultre voted against him in the leadership council, probably due to his traditionalist stances. Electoral History Gubernatorial Elections !colspan=5 align=center|Ulbrach Gubernatorial Election |- !align=center|Election !align=center|1st Round !align=center|% !align=center|Swing !align=center|Result |- |align=left|Apr 3358||5,611,298||43.08||▲+-0 ||Won |- |align=left|Sep 3362||4,067,741||31.46||▼11.62 ||Won |- |align=left|Apr 3366||4,469,071||34.41||▲2,95||Lost |- |align=left|Apr 3370||3,812,154||30.77||▼3.64 ||Lost |- |align=left|Apr 3374||3,957,782||33.20||▲2,43 ||Won |- |align=left|Dec 3375||5,144,285||45.07||▲11.87 ||Won |} Dranish Parliamentary Elections, Santa Sharika Downtown District !colspan=7 align=center|Parliament (Downtown Santa Sharika, Valdor) |- !align=center|Election !align=center|1st Round !align=center|% !align=center|2nd Round !align=center|% !align=center|Swing !align=center|Result |- |align=left|Jun 3393||218,000||43,6||279,000||55.8||▲+-0||Won |- |align=left|Jun 3397||195,000||39.0||265,000||53.1||▼2.7||Won |- |align=left|Jun 3401||180,500||36.1||280,000||56.0||▲2.9||Won |} Parliamentary Elections !colspan=5 align=center|Dranish Parliamentary Election, 3393 |- !align=center|Party !align=center|Votes !align=center|% !align=center|Swing !align=center|Result |- |align=left|GNP (led by LeCoultre)||17,842,11||29.37||▼6.5||First |- |align=left|GNP (led by LeCoultre)||11,941,656||19.13||▼10.24||Third |} Leadership Elections Provisional Leadership Election, November 3389 |'Candidate' |'Votes' |'Result' |- |Janice LeCoultre |54 |61.0% |- |Delia Breckinridge (inc.) |34 |39.0% |} Leadership Election, February 3392 |'Candidate' |'Result' |'Swing' |- |Janice LeCoultre (inc.) |59% |▼2.0 |- |Delia Breckinridge |30% |▼9.0 |- |Kenneth Ferguson |11% |▲+-0 |} Category:Grand National Party (Dranland) politicians Category:GNP leaders Category:Dranian people